Local Color / June 9, 2026
Three James Beard Nods for the Boise Chef Who Says He Cooks ‘Simple Things’
Dan Ansotegui of Ansot’s has earned three consecutive James Beard semifinalist nominations while quietly making some of the most celebrated Basque food in the Mountain West.
BOISE, ID—Dan Ansotegui will tell you he just cooks simple things, and then he’ll hand you a chorizo that earns a third James Beard semifinalist nomination. Ansotegui, along with his wife Tamara and daughter Ellie, runs Ansot’s, a lunch-only Basque spot that has quietly become one of those places visiting chefs insist on returning to before they leave town.
The kitchen has landed on the James Beard Best Chef: Mountain semifinalist list in 2022, 2023, and 2024. The chorizos—three varieties, made in a USDA-certified facility—are the calling card.
One recipe draws from his grandmother Epi’s traditional preparation; the other two reflect what Ansotegui discovered during a year in the Basque Country on a BSU study abroad program, a trip that reframed the food he’d grown up calling weird into something worth spending a career on. Boise diners likely know his work from Bar Gernika and The Basque Market, and he had a hand in opening Epi’s with his sisters.
He’s also, separately, a nationally recognized folk musician—the 2019 NEA National Heritage Fellow, the highest honor in traditional arts the country gives out. Ellie runs the front of house with what can only be described as energy; she declined a recent on-camera interview on account of being dressed as a Goth Pirate for Halloween, which seems like a reasonable call.
Ansot’s is open for lunch Tuesday through Saturday, and the suggestion stands: rearrange your week if you need to.
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